It’s that time of year where England’s lower league teams get a rare chance to shine; grabbing that opportunity with both hands will be FC United of Manchester and Chesterfield, who face each other in the 1st round of the FA Cup at 7.45pm on BT Sport 2.

Formed by disillusioned Manchester United fans in 2005 after Malcolm Glazer took over the Premier League club, the amusingly named FC United of Manchester are set to make only their second appearance ever in the FA Cup proper. Their first came in the 2010/11 season, where they actually reached the 2nd round after beating Rochdale (in arguably the club’s most famous victory). Sadly, despite pushing Brighton to a replay FC United couldn’t make it to the 3rd round, losing the replay 4-0.

Cutting to this season and already FC United have had to slog their way through FA Cup qualifying to get to this point. Entering in the 2nd round, FC United beat Witton Albion to set up a 3rd round qualifying tie with Buxton. A 1-1 draw in Manchester forced a replay, which United eventually won 2-0; beating Sporting Khalsa 3-1 in the 4th round then finally secured FC United a FA Cup proper appearance, and a chance to match surpass their 2010/11 progress.



The competition has also provided FC United fans with a bit of respite from a tough season in the league so far. Since being promoted from the Norther Premier League (which they won in 2014/15) to the newly named National League North (formerly Conference North) FC United have struggled somewhat, and sit in 17th after 15 games, losing 9, winning 4 and drawing 2.

Their opponents aren’t doing much better, however; sitting in 11th in League One, Chesterfield are in mixed form at the moment, with 3 wins and 3 losses in their past 6 games. So far 2015/16 hasn’t contained the same highs as 2014/15; in that season Chesterfield managed to get to the 4th round of the FA Cup, enduring replays in both the 2nd and 3rd rounds. However, an away tie in Derby proved to be too much for the Spireites, crashing out after a 2-0 defeat.

They had a similarly bittersweet experience in the league. After winning League Two in 2013/14, Chesterfield managed to nab the final League One play-off spot in 2014/15, with consecutive promotions almost in reach. Yet their 2 legs against 3rd place Preston showed the gulf between the top 3 and the rest of the league, with Chesterfield losing 4-0.

In terms of Monday’s match, the ostensible mismatch between League One and National League North should count in Chesterfield’s favour. Our Spreadex traders think so, at least, offering a Chesterfield/FC United of Manchester (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 1.1-1.3 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.85-3.05.